Carnival of Financial Planning 09-21-2012

Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #255 – September 21, 2012

Welcome to the September 21, 2012 Edition #255 of the Carnival of Financial Planning.

The Carnival of Financial Planning takes a long-term view of personal financial planning for individuals and families. We focus on efficient and sustainable personal financial planning practices that can lead to lifetime financial security.

This edition is arranged by subject heading, so that you can browse efficiently.

Budgeting and Economics

Bob presents What does a financial coach do? posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying, “What is financial coaching? What does a financial coach actually do? If you’re encountering ongoing financial difficulties, financial coaching just might be the ticket. Let’s explore what a financial coach does and see if one is right for you.

Jeff Rose presents I Hate Budgeting. YNAB to the Rescue! posted at Good Financial Cents, saying, “In case I have not made this abundantly clear on the blog – I HATE budgeting. Seriously, I would rather change 24 poopy diapers than to sit down and hammer budget. Luckily, there are guys like Jesse Mecham who aim to make budgeting cool. Is that really possible? Jesse would like to think so.

Dan presents Wall Street Markets posted at Wall Street Stocks , saying, ” From the days when front-running involved actual running to the “Victorian Internet era” brought on by telegraphy, we can learn a great deal from looking back at a simpler era.”

Financial Planning

Jacob @ My Personal Finance Journey presents 11 Personal Finance and Life Lessons I Learned from Bicycle Racing posted at My Personal Finance Journey, saying, “This post describes 11 life and personal finance lessons that one blogger gleamed from his time actively training for a lot of intensive cycling races throughout his young adult life. It makes one wonder what personal finance or career lessons one has learned indirectly by participating in other seemingly unrelated activities.

Jeff Rose presents What Is a Family Trust and Should You Set One Up? posted at Good Financial Cents, saying, “A family trust is a relatively simple and inexpensive, but potentially powerful legal vehicle, with many benefits for a wide swath of individuals.

Parker presents Index Funds posted at Preferred Funds, saying, “Some mutual funds and ETFs must be better than others, but which ones are they?”

PPlan presents Lending Money to Family and Friends posted at Provident Plan, saying, “Many individuals have been stuck in this situation: your friend complains that they have no money, and then they either directly or indirectly ask you if you

Income

Liana presents What You Need to Know About Joint Credit Card Accounts posted at Card Hub, saying, “With the latest set of rules on access to credit, it can be difficult to see how you can build individual credit. One way that an individual without a paycheck can build independent credit is with a joint account. But it is necessary to understand what a joint account is first.

Insurance and Risk Management

Jeff Rose presents Reasons for or Causes of Higher Life Insurance Premiums posted at Life Insurance By Jeff, saying, “High or Higher Life Insurance Premiums can be determined by the severity of the health issue and what steps that policy seekers are using to address the issue. When underwriters see that a person has had long-term health issue with no signs of improvement then there will be higher premium cost since there would be the potential risk of that policyholder succumbing to any debilitating disease.

Lawrence presents Identity theft protection posted at Best Financial Planner, saying, “Identity theft sometimes entails a loss of your money, but is always take a very large amount of your time to fix.”

My Own Advisor @ My Own Advisor writes How I Save Money on Auto Insurance – With auto insurance, you hope to avoid making a claim but if you need to, there is comfort in knowing you’ll get the best possible coverage for premiums paid. Here are ways I save money on auto insurance. I hope these tips help you as well.

Investing

Super Saver presents Recognizing a Losing Stock Trade posted at My Wealth Builder, saying, ” Use of these four letter words likely means the stock is a losing trade.

Kanwal presents Your Friend Just Gave You a Hot Stock Tip. What do you do? posted at Simply Investing, saying, “A friend, colleague or relative just gave you a hot stock tip. What should you do? Should you run out and go buy this stock? No! The simple answer is, Thanks, Ill look into it.Buying a stock, bond, mutual fund, or any other investment without doing your own research is not investing it is speculating.

TSI presents Morningstar Star Ratings posted at The Skilled Investor , saying, “Because the stars are very widely used and often misunderstood, these are articles to help investors make more rational decisions about the stars.”

Dividend Growth Investor presents Dividend Investors are Getting Paid for Holding Dividend Stocks posted at Dividend Growth Investor, saying, “Dividends provide a return on investment, which is much more stable than relying on capital gains. Investors who select quality dividend paying companies with long histories of dividend increases can ignore the day to day fluctuations in the markets,as long as the company is paying the dividend every month/quarter like clockwork.

Managing Debt

Sean presents Gangnam Style in America posted at One Smart Dollar, saying, “Spending beyond our means is a huge problem all throughout the world and is the reason why so many people get themselves into debt. The popular YouTube video Gangnam Style shows how this is a problem in a South Korean neighborhood.

Carrie Smith presents The True Secret to Paying Off Debt posted at ReadyForZero Blog, saying, “Do you know the true secret to paying off debt? In this post, Carrie Smith talks about the one thing that helped her finally eliminate debt from her life.

Sean @ One Smart Dollar writes Gangnam Style in America – Spending beyond our means is a huge problem all throughout the world and is the reason why so many people get themselves into debt. The popular YouTube video Gangnam Style shows how this is a problem in a South Korean neighborhood.

Real Estate

Miranda @ Financial Highway presents Steps to Buying a House posted at Financial Highway, saying, “If you are interested in buying a house, though, there are a number of steps you need to follow. A home purchase is a major commitment. It’s not something to be taken lightly, especially since you will be asking a lender to allow you to borrow a large sum of money. You need your ducks in a row if you expect to successfully buy a home.

Retirement

SBB presents Simple Retirement Plan posted at Simple Budget Blog, saying, “Does the complexity of retirement planning or investing keep you from actually doing it? Find out how to simplify the process and get started today.

Taxes

John presents Why are Small Businesses Still Paying for the War of 1812? posted at Wallet Blog, saying, “Earning is an important factor in obtaining money to invest – When 75% of business in the US economy are Small Businesses, you would think that ridiculous tax burdens wouldn’t be imposed by local municipalities. But that just isn’t so. Take a look at one of the factors that drives out small business and hinders job creation.

Daniel @ Sweating the Big Stuff writes Why Doesn’t Homeowners Insurance Cover Floods? – There are a lot of reasons why people can’t buy a home. In addition to the usual reasons, we can now add the high cost of homeowners insurance.

Suba @ Broke Professionals writes The Psychology of Saving – The Psychology of Saving is a post from: Broke Professionals if you enjoy it, please visit us and subscribe to the Feed. Saving is hard, especially when you don’t have much discretionary income. Saving over years and years is harder still. People do get saver’s fatigue.

Rod @ ROD Blog writes PerkStreet Financial checking account review – PerkStreet Financial Review : Is it a good alternative to the local big banks? Today there is no shortage to the amount of checking accounts out there to choose from and many of them don’t have any distinguishing features to set them apart from the competition. Once you eliminate the accounts that carry a fee,…

MR @ Money Reasons writes Saving Money Repairing Your Own Dryer – Instead of spending well over $1,000, I decided to saving money and DIY! Read and watch how repairing your own dryer can be accomplished for 9 dollars

YFS @ Your Finances Simplified writes How to Save For A Child’s Higher Education – According to an article posted in CNBC.com, the cost for an academic year from 2010-2011 is approximately $56,500 including tuition plus room and board.

Jester @ The Ultimate Juggle writes Are car parks really businesses? – As part of an initiative to promote retail, some parking fees are being waived in the West End this weekend. The beginning of the Olympics saw a drop in footfall in central London areas which retailers believe may be due to repeated warnings about traffic congestion and overextended transport hubs.

A Blinkin @ Funancials writes Buying a Car Won’t Help You Reach Your Dreams – I was flipping through the pages of Money Magazine when an advertisement caught my eye. The ad was promoting the All-New 31 MPG Highway 2013 Honda CRV. To soccer moms all over the world, this car is hella cool.It’s also hella expensive.My problem isn’t with the car itself, but instead with the Money Magazine advertisement.